On May 27, 2018—one week ago today—the heartbreaking news was that Gardner Dozois had died suddenly in a hospital of an infection at the age of seventy.

As most people in the science fiction and fantasy business know, Dozois was the editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine for many years, the editor of the indispensable Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies for an astounding thirty-seven years, and a published writer himself, most recently with stories in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the January-February 2018 issue with “Neanderthals“ (my story in that issue was “Aurelia”) and the May-June 2018 issue with “Unstoppable” (my story in that issue was “The Bicycle Whisperer”). His wife, the writer Susan Casper, had died after long and painful illnesses a year ago.

At the beginning of my writing career, Dozois acquired four stories of mine for Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, enabling me to build a publishing resume that served as a platform for me to sell my first novel, Arachne, to William Morrow in hardcover, in trade paperback by Eos, in mass market paperback by AvoNova, and in another trade paperback edition by Bast Books. Nine novels have followed, a short story collection, several screenplays, and a major movie deal based on the short story, “Tomorrow’s Child”, published in Omni Magazine.

I’m eternally grateful for Gardner for giving me a chance back in the day. Although Asimov’s, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Analog are small-format magazines, don’t pay much, and have limited distribution, the competition among writers—even established writers with many novels to their names—to be published in those forums is fierce.

I met Gardner only briefly three times, after I’d sold stories to him—once at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Author-Editor Reception in New York; a second time at the WorldCon in San Francisco; and a third at the WorldCon in Los Angeles. He was gracious and friendly on all three occasions. Countless other writers and editors deemed him a dear friend and a regular at Science Fiction World Conventions (“WorldCons”) and other venues. A lively fixture who will be greatly missed.

And so. The first story I sold to Gardner was “Guardian,” about an African-American gallerist who must fight a brutal burglar preying on her condo building with voodoo. The next was “The Oniomancer,” about a punk Chinese-American bicycle messenger who finds an alien artifact on the street.

Finally, Gardner bought “Hummers,” about a woman dying of cancer who learns to reconcile herself to her impending death through Egyptian magic and the hummingbirds who visit her feeder. I remember walking up to Gardner at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where he sat in the lobby at a table with a bunch of editors and thanking him for buying “Hummers.” And he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “That was a good story.” “Hummers” was nominated for the Nebula Award (the late Roger Zelazny voted for it) and chosen for the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection (St. Martin’s Press). The award-winning Terri Windling, one of the editors of the anthology, wrote a beautiful introduction. I’ve also published this as an ebook short story at Hummers (in Fifth Annual Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror) on BarnesandNoble, US Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords. Also on Kindle in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, and India.

So there you have it, my friends. Short stories are a part of the culture, a part of literature, an important way for writers to express themselves and for readers to appreciate their work and their consciousness.

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Laurel, in the terminal stages of cancer, is obsessed with the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Jerry, her homecare nurse whose lover is dying of AIDS, gives her a surprising gift: a hummingbird feeder.

As Laurel comes to grips with her impending death, she learns powerful and redeeming lessons about Egyptian Magic from the hummingbirds that visit her.

HUMMERS was first published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, chosen for Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection (St. Martin’s), and nominated for the Nebula Award.

Terri Windling received the World Fantasy Award for her contributions to the fantasy field and her editing of anthologies, including this one. Here’s her introduction to Hummers from Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection:“Ursula Le Guin has described fantasy as a different approach to reality, an alternate technique for apprehending and coping with existence.
Fantasy, like myth and legend, provides a means of storytelling that at its best goes beyond entertainment to travel the inner roads of the human soul. The following story does this beautifully, using the form of fantasy fiction and the symbols of Egyptian mythology to enter one of the most mysterious lands of all: the one that lies at the threshold of death. Readers who have experienced the loss of loved ones to cancer or AIDS will find this story cuts particularly close to the bone, but the fear of death is universal, and Mason’s exploration of this fear is both unsentimental and compassionate.”

So here we go, folks. I’m updating my list. This the next title after TESLA and U F uh-O. You may find something that will interest you. I hope!

Laurel, in the terminal stages of cancer, is obsessed with the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Jerry, her homecare nurse whose lover is dying of AIDS, gives her a surprising gift: a hummingbird feeder.

As Laurel comes to grips with her impending death, she learns powerful and redeeming lessons about Egyptian Magic from the hummingbirds that visit her.

HUMMERS was first published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, chosen for Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection (St. Martin’s), and nominated for the Nebula Award.

Terri Windling received the World Fantasy Award for her contributions to the fantasy field and her editing of anthologies, including this one. Here’s her introduction to Hummers from Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection:“Ursula Le Guin has described fantasy as a different approach to reality, an alternate technique for apprehending and coping with existence.
Fantasy, like myth and legend, provides a means of storytelling that at its best goes beyond entertainment to travel the inner roads of the human soul. The following story does this beautifully, using the form of fantasy fiction and the symbols of Egyptian mythology to enter one of the most mysterious lands of all: the one that lies at the threshold of death. Readers who have experienced the loss of loved ones to cancer or AIDS will find this story cuts particularly close to the bone, but the fear of death is universal, and Mason’s exploration of this fear is both unsentimental and compassionate.”

Laurel, in the terminal stages of cancer, is obsessed with the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Jerry, her homecare nurse whose lover is dying of AIDS, gives her a surprising gift: a hummingbird feeder.

As Laurel comes to grips with her impending death, she learns powerful and redeeming lessons about Egyptian Magic from the hummingbirds that visit her.

HUMMERS was published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, chosen for Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection (St. Martin’s), and nominated for the Nebula Award.

Terri Windling received the World Fantasy Award for her contributions to the fantasy field and her editing of anthologies, including this one.
Here’s her introduction to Hummers from Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection:

‘Ursula Le Guin has described fantasy as a different approach to reality, an alternate technique for apprehending and coping with existence.
Fantasy, like myth and legend, provides a means of storytelling that at its best goes beyond entertainment to travel the inner roads of the human soul. The following story does this beautifully, using the form of fantasy fiction and the symbols of Egyptian mythology to enter one of the most mysterious lands of all: the one that lies at the threshold of death. Readers who have experienced the loss of loved ones to cancer or AIDS will find this story cuts particularly close to the bone, but the fear of death is universal, and Mason’s exploration of this fear is both unsentimental and compassionate.’

Laurel, in the terminal stages of cancer, is obsessed with the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Jerry, her homecare nurse whose lover is dying of AIDS, gives her a surprising gift: a hummingbird feeder.

As Laurel comes to grips with her impending death, she learns powerful and redeeming lessons about Egyptian Magic from the hummingbirds that visit her.

HUMMERS was published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, chosen for Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection (St. Martin’s), and nominated for the Nebula Award.

Terri Windling received the World Fantasy Award for her contributions to the fantasy field and her editing of anthologies, including this one. Here’s her introduction to Hummers from Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection:

‘Ursula Le Guin has described fantasy as a different approach to reality, an alternate technique for apprehending and coping with existence. Fantasy, like myth and legend, provides a means of storytelling that at its best goes beyond entertainment to travel the inner roads of the human soul. The following story does this beautifully, using the form of fantasy fiction and the symbols of Egyptian mythology to enter one of the most mysterious lands of all: the one that lies at the threshold of death. Readers who have experienced the loss of loved ones to cancer or AIDS will find this story cuts particularly close to the bone, but the fear of death is universal, and Mason’s exploration of this fear is both unsentimental and compassionate.’

Laurel, in the terminal stages of cancer, is obsessed with the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Jerry, her homecare nurse whose lover is dying of AIDS, gives her a surprising gift: a hummingbird feeder.

As Laurel comes to grips with her impending death, she learns powerful and redeeming lessons about Egyptian Magic from the hummingbirds that visit her.

HUMMERS was published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, chosen for Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection (St. Martin’s Press), and nominated for the Nebula Award.

Terri Windling received the World Fantasy Award for her contributions to the fantasy field and her editing of anthologies, including this one. Here’s her introduction to Hummers from Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection:

‘Ursula Le Guin has described fantasy as a different approach to reality, an alternate technique for apprehending and coping with existence.

Fantasy, like myth and legend, provides a means of storytelling that at its best goes beyond entertainment to travel the inner roads of the human soul. The following story does this beautifully, using the form of fantasy fiction and the symbols of Egyptian mythology to enter one of the most mysterious lands of all: the one that lies at the threshold of death. Readers who have experienced the loss of loved ones to cancer or AIDS will find this story cuts particularly close to the bone, but the fear of death is universal, and Mason’s exploration of this fear is both unsentimental and compassionate.’

HUMMERS was published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, chosen for Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection (St. Martin’s Press), and nominated for the Nebula Award.

Laurel, in the terminal stages of cancer, is obsessed with the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Jerry, her homecare nurse whose lover is dying of AIDS, gives her a surprising gift: a hummingbird feeder.

As Laurel comes to grips with her impending death, she learns powerful and redeeming lessons about Egyptian Magic from the hummingbirds that visit her.

Terri Windling received the World Fantasy Award for her contributions to the fantasy field and her editing of anthologies, including this one. Here’s her introduction to Hummers from Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection (St. Martin’s Press):

‘Ursula Le Guin has described fantasy as a different approach to reality, an alternate technique for apprehending and coping with existence.

Fantasy, like myth and legend, provides a means of storytelling that at its best goes beyond entertainment to travel the inner roads of the human soul. The following story does this beautifully, using the form of fantasy fiction and the symbols of Egyptian mythology to enter one of the most mysterious lands of all: the one that lies at the threshold of death. Readers who have experienced the loss of loved ones to cancer or AIDS will find this story cuts particularly close to the bone, but the fear of death is universal, and Mason’s exploration of this fear is both unsentimental and compassionate.’

Literary science fiction! And don’t miss TOMORROW’S CHILD, The Story That Sold To The Movies. Thisbegan as a medical documentary, got published in Omni Magazine as a lead story, and finally sold to Universal Pictures, where the project is now in development. My 30-day blog, The Story Behind the StoryThat Sold To The Movies, sets out the twists and turns the project took from inspiration to movie deal. On Nook, Kindle, Smashwords, and UK Kindle.